The Love of a Family
by KJFlygirl87
Summary: A Mattie story. This is my version of how Harm becomes Mattie's guardian. HM in the end.
1. Default Chapter

Due to my mix up with chapter management, I've taken the story off and replace it.  I figured that was a lot easier than trying to figure out what to do.  Thank you and I'm sorry!

Title: The Love of a Family

Author: Kirsten, gonavyforever87@yahoo.com

Spoilers: Back in the Saddle

Author's Notes:  I really liked this past week's (10/31) ep.  I also really hope that Harm comes back to JAG.  I also really like Mattie.  She's reminds me a lot of Mac and I think that I can see a friendship between Mac and Mattie.  Moving on, please let me know what you think.  This is my first JAG fanfiction (I've written _ER and _Remember the Titans_ fanfiction) so please be nice!  Anyway, enjoy the story.  Oh, I need to work on writing in the third person but I switching between Mattie's and Harms' POV.  I might throw Mac's POV in there but I let you know whose POV it is at the beginning of the story.  Now, on with the show!_

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**CHAPTER 1: THINKING ABOUT THINGS **

Mattie's POV

            "Where do you live?" Harm asks as I go over to the microwave and pick up a magazine.

            "My mother's old house." I say, looking at my magazine and not at him.

            I can hear him getting up and taking a few steps toward me, "What about relatives?  There must be someone you can go to."

            "They're most all HIS family.  When they call, I tell them that Dad's passed out on the couch."

            "What do you for money?"

            "Got Grace Aviation." I say and put the down the magazine, "It pays the bills."  All that I want is to end this conversation and get back to work with the planes.

            "What happens when he comes back?"

            I throw Harm a glare and head out to the plane, "He's not coming back.  Now after what he did.  Besides, I wouldn't let him the house."

            "It's his house." Harm says.  God, there's the lawyer in him.

            "It's mine. My mom left me the planes and the house in her will." I say and climb up on the wing to look into the cockpit.

            That seems to shut up him for a minute, "What happens when they find out, Matte?  I mean, Child Protective Services, the FAA 'cause they will."

            I play with the headset.  I hope that he won't turn me in.  I just want to be left alone, "Are you gonna tell?"

            "No, I'm not gonna tell.  What I will do though is I'll call you everyday and I'll come out here at least once a week until I can file a petition with the court to become your guardian."

            Why does Harm have such an interest in me?  I'm doing fine.  I keep the business running and I can take care of myself.  But then he is offering to take care of me.  That would be nice.  I'm just really surprised, "Oh…uh, are you sure about this?  'Cause you could back out and I won't hold it against you."

            He smiles at me, "I'll find you a neighbor to check in on you.  Then there's the question you school." He says and points his hand at me, the aviation glasses coming undone.

            "I know what I need to know." I say.  

            "I doubt that.  You don't know to fly a plane." He says and then smiles at me, "Come on, close up early and I'll take you flying.  Then I'll take you home and we'll talk things over."

            "I don't know, Harm." I say.  I would love to go flying with Harm.  But I do have an appearance to keep.

            "You know you what to." He says, heading out to where his plane is.  He grabs two pairs of goggles out along with two U.S. Navy baseball hats.  He hands one set to me and then grabs a gas can.  I take the stuff and grab my jacket.  I want to do this.

            "Alright, I'll go." I say, heading over to the plane.

            Two hours later, Harm's following me back to the house.  It's not a big house by any means but it was my mother's and I love it.  I park in the driveway and Harm stops the bike next to the truck, "Well, this is it." I say, grabbing my stuff out of the truck and unlocking the door.

            "I still can't believe that you live here all alone." He says, following me inside.

            Shadow, my Golden Retriever, comes over to me.  I gently rub her head and then let her back out the door.  "Make yourself at home." I say, throwing my stuff in the living room.

            He sits down, "Was that your dog?" he asks.

            "Yeah.  That's Shadow.  She's pretty protective."

            "You need a good watchdog."

            "Why?  It's not like anything is going to happen around here."

            "You never know, Matte." He says, "So what do you want to do for dinner?  We could order a pizza."

            I smile, "That sounds good.  What do you like?"

            "Veggie.  My friend and I always have fights because she loves meat."

            "She?" I ask.

            "Lt. Colonel Sarah Mackenzie.  Aka Mac.  She and I used to be partners at JAG."

            "JAG?" I ask, wanting to know more.  This Mac person sounds like she means a lot to him.

            "Where I was fired by the old mean jerk." He says and smiles, "That was Admiral Chegwidden.  He's the JAG."

            "Oh.  So what's a JAG anyway?"

            "Lawyer." 

            "You were a lawyer?  I thought that you were a pilot."

            "I was.  Actually, Mattie, that's what I have to talk to you about."

            "Shoot."

            "The Admiral wants me to come back to JAG.  If I do, that means that I can't keep an eye on you."

            "That's fine.  I don't need anyone to watch over me."

            "Would you consider moving to D.C.?  I have an apartment but we could move somewhere else."

            "But I want to stay here."

            "Mattie…"

            "Harm, this is where my mother grew up.  This has always been my home.  I don't want to move somewhere else."

            "Tell you what, you can stay here for this week and I'll come back down next weekend.  You think about what we've discussed and I'll think so more about what I want to do.  We'll talk next weekend about what our plans are.  Deal?" he asks, sticking his hand out.

            I shake it and smile, "I'll think about it."

            "Good girl.  Now what about pizza?" he says and smiles.

            "I'll go order it." I say.  I don't know if I want to move to D.C. but I'm willing to at least think about it.  Harm's a good guy and I think that he's pretty understanding.

**END CHAPTER 1.**

Please tell me what you think!  I'll going to keep writing but things are crazy and I'm also working on another fanfic.  So please bear with me!  


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: I'm sorry that this has taken me a long time to get posted but I've been very busy and I'm running into computer problems. Anyway, here's the second part. I really didn't like the fact that there was no Mattie on the 11/14 ep. Just to be warned, I am not following what is happening on the show. Oh, by the way, this story does not include the man that Harm found and put up at his apartment. I liked the idea and all, but it doesn't fit in my story. This is my story so things are going my way. Anyway, now that's done, I'll let you read the story!

***

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CHAPTER 2:

Harm's POV

I walk into JAG a few days later and smile when I see Bud. Boy, it's good to be back. Harriet says hi to me but Mac and Coates quickly escape into Mac's office. I head towards the admiral's office.

Knocking on the hatch, I hear him call enter. I go in and come to attention.

"Commander Rabb reporting as ordered, sir."

"At ease, Commander. Well, let's not waste time. You can begin by reviewing Commander Imes's cases. Commander Turner's old office is open right now and you can use that."

"Thank you sir. I'll get started right away, sir." I say. The admiral is making it obvious that I'm going to have earn my position back.

"Anything else, Commander?"

"Well, sir, there is one thing. I'm hoping to become the guardian of the girl that I was working for."

"You mean the one who called me a mean, old jerk?"

I smile at that, "That's the one, sir."

"As long as your cases are reviewed before next Friday, I don't see a problem."

I smile, "Thank you, sir."

"Dismissed." He says and I come to attention and turn on my heel, "Oh, Commander." He calls as I'm almost out the door.

"Yes sir?" I ask, turning around.

"If you need any help, let me know."

"Thank you." I say as I leave. Grabbing my overcoat, cover and briefcase from Coates, I head to my new office. It smells horrible in here. What died in here?  
Harriet comes up as stands next to me in the doorjamb, "Sorry about the smell, sir. I tried calling housekeeping but they wouldn't be here for a while."

"That's okay, Harriet. I'll get used to it. Oh, Harriet, I have a favor to ask you."

"What can I do to help, sir?"

"Do you know any phone numbers for any lawyers who deal with child custody?"

"No sir but I could find out. Why do you ask, sir?"

"I was working for the crop-dusting firm before I came back here; I found later that the girl who owns it doesn't have a guardian. I'm hoping to petition the court for guardianship."

"That so nice of you, sir!" she says as her face lights up, "I'll go look in the phone book and I think that I still have a contact or two down at the Child Protective Services office."

"Thanks Harriet." I say as I enter the office. This ought to be interesting.

Fifteen minutes later, Harriet comes back with her name, "Here you go sir. A Kirsten Taylor. She works in D.C. Do you want me to call her and get you an appointment?"

"No thanks, Harriet, but thank you for finding me this number." I say as I take the piece of paper.

Harriet smiles and leaves. I pick up the phone and dial the number.

"Hello?"

"Yes, is Ms. Taylor there?" I ask.

"Just a minute, sir." she says before I hear a click.

"Horsfield."

"Ma'am, my name is Commander Harmon Rabb and I was wondering if you could help me."

"Harm?" she asks. God, her voice sounds familiar.

"Kirsten, is that you?"

"Yeah. How are you doing?" she asks.

"Pretty good. What happened to you? Here you were on a tour and the next thing I know, you're reserving your commission."

Kirsten laughs, "The joy of getting married."

"You got married? My fiery, kick-ass wingman got married?"

"Yeah. His name is Jeffrey Taylor and he's a Marine."

"What have they done to you, Kirsten?" I ask.

Kirsten laughs, "Nothing. He's a great guy. Anyway, was there a reason why you were calling me?"

"I need a lawyer, Kirsten. I'm trying to petition the court to let me become the guardian of a minor."

"Look who's talking, Harm!" she says before getting down to business, "Well, why don't you come over to my office and we'll talk about it."

"That works for me. I'll come over during my lunch hour. Where are you?"

"Just outside of D.C. Here, I'll give you directions." She says as I write them down.

"Great. I'll be there around 1215. It was good to talk to you, Kirsten." I say.

"It was good to talk to you too, Harm. I'll see you then." She says as we hang up the phone.

What a surprise! Kirsten got married and is now a lawyer. Lord, how things change.

I walk up the front steps of a small house and take off my cover when I go in the door. I go up to the receptionists' desk and say, "I'm here to see Kristen Taylor."

"You must be Commander Rabb. She said to show you back when you got here." The little old lady says and leads me to an office in the back of the house.

"Harm, it's good to see you!" she says when I go in. She stands up and comes over to give me a hug.

"Look at you! How far along are you?" I ask, looking down at her stomach.

"About six and a half months. I'm not doing any more cases but I'll take your on because I like you." She says, motioning for me to have a seat.

"Thank you." I say, as I sit down in one of the chairs.

"So, tell me more about this child." Kirsten says, pulling out a legal pad.

"Her name Matilda Grace, but she goes by Maddie. Anyway, she runs her own company, Grace Aviation, which basically deals with crop-dusting. Her mother died and left her the planes and the house. Her father was a drunk and it was because of his drinking that her mother was killed. Anyway, her father left her and she has been on her own ever since."

"Is her father still alive?"

"We don't know. Will that make it harder to get me guardianship?" I ask.

"I don't know. We could try to locate her father but that could take weeks or months. Anyway, I see that you are with JAG. Do you do a lot of traveling?"

"Yeah. I know that's probably not the best for trying to become the guardian of Maddie but I have to travel in order to get back the admiral's approval."

"Somebody got in trouble." Kirsten says and smiles at me.

"It's a long story." I say, "Let's get back to the matter at hand. What are my chances?"

"Well, you're going to have show the court that you are willing and able to take on the responsibility of taking Maddie in as your ward. They'll probably want to do a home study but I can help with that. There is one thing that I would like to do."

"What's that?"

"Can I meet Maddie? I like to meet my clients." Kirsten says and smiles.

"Hold on a minute." I say as I pull out my cell phone and dial Maddie's number.

"Grace Aviation." Maddie says when she picks up the phone.

"Hey Maddie." I say.

"Harm! When are you coming down here?"

"I don't know, Maddie. Anyway, I'm sitting in the office of a lawyer and she wants to meet you. Would you do that?"

"I don't know."

"If it makes you feel better, I flew with her for a number of years so I think that I know her pretty well."

"Harm, I don't know."

"Why don't you take a few days off and I'll come down and get you and then you can spend a few days in D.C. You know, see the city, meet some people and see what the city has to offer."

"That sounds cool, Harm."

"Good. I'll come down and get you tonight. Can you be ready?" I ask her.

"Yeah. What should I do about Shadow?"

I have to smile. Maddie really loves that dog. "Bring her with you."

"Okay. I'll see you at the house tonight. Bye Harm."

"Bye Maddie." I say as I hang up the phone and turn to look at Kirsten, "She's going to spend sometime with me for a few days. I want to give her some time to get used to me and to the city. Can this meeting wait?"

"Yeah. You give me a call when you want to set it up. I'll started on the paperwork though."

"Thanks Kirsten." I say as I get up and give her a hug, "Congratulations on the baby, Bailey."

Kirsten smiles at the use of her callsign, "Thank you, Pappy."

"How'd you here that one?"

"Jeff."

"Is that your husband?" I ask as she nods, "Why am I not surprised?" I smile before turning to leave. God, it was great to see Kirsten again. She was one of my best friends and will probably be one for awhile. I am happy that she's found someone that she's happy with. 

I can't wait to see Maddie tonight either. Life is good and will be even better after I can get guardianship of her. Then she'll finally have a family. 

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END CHAPTER 2.


End file.
